# Public Companies' Bitcoin Additions Fall 94% in Third Quarter

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/35535
Published: 2026-10-20T10:22:14.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-20T10:22:14.000Z
Section: Business

> Strategy added 1,666 BTC, down from 83,901 BTC in the prior quarter, as narrower share premiums made stock-funded purchases less attractive.

Publicly traded companies added a net 7,283 Bitcoin (BTC) in the third quarter of 2026, a 94% drop from the previous quarter as narrower share premiums made it harder for treasury companies to finance purchases.

Strategy increased its holdings by 1,666 BTC, compared with 83,901 BTC in the second quarter. Other listed companies added a combined 5,617 BTC, down from 45,725 BTC. Together, the two groups had added 129,626 BTC in the prior quarter.

The slowdown reflects a constraint in a financing approach used during the 2025 corporate treasury boom. Some companies issued shares and spent the proceeds on Bitcoin. A share price above the value of a company's Bitcoin holdings made that approach more attractive; as the premium narrowed, issuing stock became a less effective way to fund further purchases.

Some treasury company shares have traded below the value of their Bitcoin holdings. That limits the appeal of selling more shares to expand a reserve, even if the company still intends to hold Bitcoin.

About 12 companies that adopted treasury strategies during the boom have since sold all their Bitcoin, mainly to repay debt or return cash to shareholders. Their exits show that the slowdown involves more than smaller purchases by companies still building reserves.

Most of the largest corporate Bitcoin buyers outside Strategy have used cash generated by their businesses to make purchases. That provides a smaller source of demand than share issuance during a fundraising boom, but it does not depend on a stock premium to finance each purchase.

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) remained another source of demand. They drew $6.4 billion in net inflows during the third quarter, even as corporate additions slowed. Fund flows and corporate purchases measure different channels of demand, so one did not replace the other in the quarterly figures.

ETF flows have also shifted since the quarter ended. The funds recorded about $229 million in net outflows in the week ended Oct. 16, their second consecutive week of withdrawals. Some ETF inflows may reflect basis trades, positions that can be unwound as market conditions change.

The funds posted an inflow on Oct. 19 after those two weeks of withdrawals. For corporate treasury buyers, further purchases remain tied in part to whether share premiums and financing terms improve.